Mixed Methods Analysis of Student Perspectives on the AuD Externship

By Izabela Jamsek and Daniel Romero

This article is a part of the March/April, Volume 35, Number 2, Audiology Today issue.

The process of applying for an audiology externship has been changing and ever-evolving since the externship was first implemented across all AuD programs (Academy, 2006). Over the years, the Student Academy of Audiology (SAA) has administered surveys to gather, track, and report on student experiences (Dubaybo et al, 2017; Lewis et al, 2019). Two such surveys have identified areas to improve the externship application, such as increasing uniformity in the application process as well as decreasing the financial burden to address disparities in educational access and decrease stress and pressure for students. 

Since the last data collection, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented effect on typical academic and business operations, thus increasing the need to document and further understand student experiences and perspectives during the current application process. An independent, volunteer network of AuD programs and externship sites, termed the Audiology Clinical Education Network (ACEN), premiered a standardized externship application timeline for summer–fall 2021 with more than 30 participating sites. 

To assess the effects of these events and compare with past student experiences, the SAA disseminated its third externship application survey in the winter of 2021–2022 to its membership and AuD programs. The purpose of the survey was to get a better understanding of current benefits and remaining burdens of the externship application process and to document any changes from previous years.